Writing in lists, an essay was born

Back in 2020, when the world shut down, my writing group met via Zoom every Tuesday to write autobiography in lists.

Each week, we had prompts to pick and choose from.

 I was surprised by where the list prompts led me.

• Unusual things about me compared to most people I know
• Things I think people will be secretly thinking about me at my funeral 
• Four wishes I would ask a genie to grant me
• Things I have too many of
• Times I’ve stayed too long
• Books that changed how I see the world
• Times you’ve felt betrayed 
• Noises you hate 
  
  We met every week for two years. We wrote, read our writing out loud, cried, and laughed together.
  
  I wrote an essay from a list prompt: things you wish you could ask someone deceased, and submitted it to literary magazines for a couple of years. It finally found a home at The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature.
  Here’s the essay link: It Was All Terribly Unfair
  
  I hope you read it, and I’d love to hear your thoughts about it.
  
  Thank you for reading.
  
  Frances